


USJ

by Catheeso



Series: BNHA AU [2]
Category: CJMind, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: All Might? he punches shit, Gen, Shigaraki is hard to write, The USJ arc, USJ, i do not get one for all, i do not want one for all, no, shit gets fucked, the characters are SMART, who gets it? a mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25987768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catheeso/pseuds/Catheeso
Summary: The remixed class 1-A goes to the USJ and gets attacked by villains! Can they survive it?
Relationships: None
Series: BNHA AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883536
Kudos: 5





	1. Another Bad Field Trip

**Author's Note:**

> I Am Struggling

Carter hates field trips. They’re never fun and he always somehow gets left behind, even by the teachers. Never mind the fact that Carter never remembers to have his mom sign the permission slip. So when Aizawa announces that they were going on a field trip to an off-campus training facility, Carter didn’t get his hopes up. 

Rescue training sounded fun, but he wasn’t particularly strong so that would mean teleporting, and after the disaster (for him) that was the Battle Trial, he’s not looking forward to it again. 

He had been told what had happened while he was unconscious during the rest of the trials. Carmen Dennis and Charlie Scott won as heroes against Kimi and Ava Newsome. Lily Lovell and Amelia Fernsby won as villains against Liam Gunn and Cyrus Laffon. Bre and Kacey Gador won as heroes against Peter Vlahos and Connor Tucker. 

Since Ellis had been expelled, there was an odd number of students. Lara volunteered to fight again so they could have two more teams.

Kali and Lara won as villains against Owen Miles and Pandora Angelos. 

Overall, Carter’s friends had won. Kimi was still majorly salty they lost, even though they got MVP in their fight, and complained for days before Bre finally shut them up with cookies. Carter had tried to talk to Lara but he had forgot that he didn’t know how to talk to people and they just kinda stood around awkwardly before the bell rang for the next class.

Carter had asked Kali to kill him afterward and she looked like she was ready to when Destiny freaked out and put a stop to it. Killjoy. 

Lara Viray had been elected class president with Connor Tucker as vice president. Carter was just happy he hadn’t been nominated. He’d be a terrible president.

“What’s your political opinion on weed?” Bre asked as she slid into the seat next to him on the bus in her hero outfit. She had lost the niceness of the first day revealing her gremlin side and he now wanted a full refund. He didn’t buy this person.

“My political opinion is that it’s diet acid and my other political opinion is that I’m suspicious of why you’re asking me,” Carter replied side-eyeing Bre with concern. 

“Bre totally has some weed,” Kali said, standing up and leaning over the bus seats with a grin. “And she refuses to share it with us.”

“I’m not sharing the good kush with you, Kali!” Bre retorted.

“The good kush,” Carter repeated quietly. “This is the USJ, how could can it be?”

Kimi, who was sitting next to Kali, snorted loudly, sounding like a dying pig. 

“Who brought Monoma on the bus?” Carter snarked. “I’m pretty sure I hear a pig.”

He must’ve said that a little louder than he meant to because the whole bus burst into laughter. 

“Settle down,” Aizawa called from the front of the bus. “We’ll be there shortly.”

Carter leaned and looked out the window, eyeing the big dome in the distance. 

“It doesn’t look too spectacular,” he said.

“You don’t look too spectacular either and I’m still your friend,” Bre replied, leaning over him to see out the window. Carter made a noise of protest and shoved her off of him. 

“Get yourself a hobby,” Carter told her.

“Bullying you _is_ my hobby,” Bre retorted, placing herself on top of him once again to see out the window. “Hold still, I wanna see Universal Studios Japan.”

“That’s not- ugh,” Carter groaned, slumping in his seat as the bus pulled to a stop. 

The entire class immediately tried to clamber out of their seats and Carter remained smashed against the bus window before the crowd thinned and Bre finally got off of him. “C’mon slowpoke.”

He stretched as he got out and entered the big building. Rescue exercises should at least be fun. Kali and Bre would probably be best at it with their quirks. He wouldn’t trust either of them with rescuing anybody, though. Not that he doesn’t trust them, he just doesn’t trust them. 

The class filed into the USJ where Thirteen was waiting for them. Carter had always thought that Thirteen was incredibly cool. He knew that their quirk could be incredibly dangerous just like Kali’s, but it was amazing how they used it for rescue situations instead of fighting villains. 

It always fascinated Carter how quirks could be so deadly yet so helpful. Bre’s quirk could drown someone and render them a statue when the goo dried, Destiny’s quirk could freeze someone to death, Kimi’s quirk could blow someone to pieces. His quirk could possibly glitch someone out of existence, although it was more dangerous to him than anyone else. 

“Where’s All Might? I thought he was meeting us here,” Aizawa asked Thirteen. 

“It seems he just about reached his limit during his morning commute,” Thirteen responded, holding up three fingers. Huh, weird. Did that mean something? “He’s resting in the break room.”

Everybody knew that All Might was getting weaker. People preferred not to think about it or talk about it, but hearing that he couldn’t be here after, what, about three hours of hero work this morning? Three or four hours wasn’t a lot for him to be exhausted by. 

Carter chose to keep his mouth shut about it. Based on Bre’s expression next to him, she had made the connection, too. 

“The height of irrationality,” Aizawa grumbled. “So be it. Let’s get started.”

“Before we do,” Thirteen said, “I have one or two points. Or three...four.”

“As I’m sure many of you are aware, my quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear up anything. I’ve used it many times to help rescue people, but my power can also easily kill. I’ve no doubt there are some among you with similar abilities.”

Kali shifted nervously next to him, tugging at the leather gloves on her hands.

“In our super-powered society, the use of quirks is heavily restricted and monitored. It may seem that the system is a stable one. But we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die. During Aizawa’s physical fitness test, you came to learn your own hidden potential. Through All Might’s battle training, you experienced the danger that your respective quirks can pose to others.”

More like the danger my quirk can pose to myself, Carter thought bitterly. 

“This class will show you a new perspective! You will learn to utilize your quirk to save lives. Your powers are not meant to inflict harm. I hope you leave here today with the understanding that you’re meant to help people.”

Thirteen bowed, “that is all, thank you for listening.”

The class clapped but Carter found himself frowning slightly. How can he help people when he can’t even help himself? 

“Great,” Aizawa said, “first off-“

Aizawa cut himself off as the air went still. A heavy pressure suddenly appeared and Carter found his breath stolen from his lungs. Something was wrong. 

Carter looked past Thirteen and Aizawa as a dark purple mist - portal? - appeared in front of the fountain.

“What the hell...?” Kali whispered next to him.

A man covered in hands stepped out of the portal and Carter froze. 

A....villain?

“Huddle up and don’t move!” Aizawa shouted, shoving an arm in front of them. “Thirteen, protect the students!”

What looked like hundreds on villains rushed out of the portal and towards the students. Carter scrambled back as Aizawa put his yellow goggles on, panic creeping into his blood. 

“Is this part of the rescue training?” Pandora asked nervously. 

“Don’t move, those are villains!” Aizawa yelled. 

The mist swirled into a shadow-like figure with bright yellow eyes. “Thirteen and Eraserhead, is it? According to the staff schedule I received the other day, All Might is supposed to be here.”

“Of course,” Aizawa muttered. “This whole incident was this scum bag’s doing.”

“Where is he?” The man with hands all over his body asked, his voice scratchy. Carter shivered and clenched his fists. Surely the staff knows there are villains here, right? 

“We’ve come all this way and brought so many playmates. All Might, the symbol of peace, is he here?”

The man paused. 

Carter knows what it's like to be scared. He knows what being terrified feels like. He remembered the time he woke up to shouting and his mother having to race his older brother to the hospital. He remembered the time a tsunami hit the nation and the lights were out for weeks. He remembered the first time he used his quirk too much and he had a panic attack as his hand bled. 

But, nothing could ever compare to the sheer terror he felt as he looked upon the hundreds of villains looking at his class like they were a bunch of food for the taking. Nothing could compare to the sheer terror he felt as he watched what seemed to be the two leaders of the group - along with some sort of monster - talk about them and All Might. 

Nothing could ever compare to the sheer terror he felt as he heard the man with grey hair speak.

“I wonder if some dead kids will bring him here?”


	2. You Can’t Fight Fire With Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fire zone is hot, who knew? Also, teleporting two people doesn’t feel too good.

“How have they not set off the sensors?” Ethan asked. “Surely there should sensors alerting the staff that someone broke into the USJ?”

“Someone’s quirk must be jamming communication!” Kimi said. 

“Maybe they’re also at the main building,” Connor theorized. 

“No, did you hear them? They’re here for All Might. They only attacked this building,” Carter replied. 

“Thirteen! Begin evacuation and try calling the school! There’s a good chance that one of the villains down there is jamming the signal,” Aizawa shouted. “I’ll take care of the villains!”

“Your quirk isn’t built for crowds! You’ll get overwhelmed!” Bre protested. 

“No good hero is a one-trick pony,” Aizawa replied shortly. “Thirteen, get the students to safety.”

The teacher then leaped down the stairs and started to fight the villains as Carter was ushered towards the giant double doors of the USJ. 

“Follow me!” Thirteen called from the front of the class. 

“I won’t allow that,” the mist villain said, suddenly appearing in front of them.

“Greetings, we’re the league of villains. Forgive our audacity, but, today we’ve come to U.A. high school - this bastion of heroism, to end the life of All Might, the symbol of peace.”

“You’re not forgiven,” Carter muttered darkly, shifting into a fighting stance. Maybe his two years of martial arts will actually help right now. 

“We were under the impression that All Might would be here today, but... it seems his schedule was revised? Well, no matter.”

Thirteen opened one of the hinges on their suit fingers.

“My role remains unchanged.”

The mist surrounded them.

“Begone.”

Bre jumped back and crashed into him as he stumbled himself.

“Writhe in torment.”

Kali looked around wildly and moved to try and escape the darkness.

“Until you breathe your last.”

Lara managed to knock a few people out of the way as they were completely encased in the purple mist. Carter felt like he was choking and felt like he was being pulled down.

“Everyone!”

~~~

Carter froze for a second as he was dropped into what seemed to be a city on fire before finally teleporting his way to the ground. A girl landed next to him on her knees, panting heavily. Amelia Fernsby, an A.I. quirk. She had a floating metal ball that was incredibly intelligent and was apparently named Andy. 

“Shit,” Carter said eloquently. “This city is on fire.”

“Really? I didn’t notice,” Amelia replied sarcastically. 

Carter scowled, panic making his chest tight. Villains emerged out of cracks in the buildings and alleyways, grinning at them. 

“Well, would you look at that,” a villain with lava arms said. “Two little pipsqueak high schoolers. This should be fun.”

“Don’t break yourself again,” Amelia told him. Carter gritted his teeth and nodded, feeling himself start to sweat even with the cooling system in his suit. The fire raged around him, smoke making even the villains cough.

Carter’s never liked the heat. It’s always suffocating, but he has no choice but to endure it as villains run at him and Amelia. 

A villain with fire breath rushes at him and he teleports behind them and throws glitches at the villain, knocking them back.

“We have to get out of here!” He shouted at Amelia as he dodged a piece of concrete. The gravel dug into his exposed fingertips as he landed in a crouch, running at the villain and punching them in the stomach. The villain stumbled and Carter swept their legs out and kicked their back. 

“I realized!” Amelia snapped, slamming a piece of wood over a villain’s head.

Carter jumped back from a blow and elbowed them in the back of the neck, the villain dropping like a rock. He exhaled sharply as they were once again surrounded.

There were too many villains.

“Grab my hand!” Carter yelled.

“What?”

“Grab my hand!”

Amelia looked at him like he was crazy but grabbed his offered hand nonetheless. Pain rippled through his body and he bit his lip to not cry out as he teleported the two of them next to the fountain from earlier. Hopefully, the villains had moved.

Carter fell to his knees, breathing heavily through his nose. His arm hurt. His head hurt. His legs hurt. But the fire was no longer flickering next to him and there were no concrete slabs and run-down buildings. No suffocating smoke and no dangerous villains.

Carter looked up just in time to see the hand villain grab Aizawa’s elbow and turn it to dust. 

So, maybe there was still some dangerous villains nearby. 

Aizawa threw the hand villain away as Carter can’t help but think of Kali and her quirk. Could she do that to people, too? 

Aizawa dodged two more villains before tumbling to a stop, still standing, his elbow being held to his chest.

“Oh my god,” Amelia whispered, horrified.

“Your quirk, it’s no good in long, group battles, huh?” The hand villain said. His voice sounded even worse up close. The black monster hovered next to the hand villain like a dog. Its head was exposed, its eyes blank. Carter finally realized what that pink blob was through his cracked visor.

“Is that its brain?” He muttered. 

“This is kinda different from your usual work, yeah? You specialize in quick sneak attacks. Yet you jumped right into the fight. Hoping to make the kids feel safe?”

The villain chuckled.

“So cool. So cool. By the way, hero...”

The monster appeared behind Aizawa.

“I’m not the boss here.”

Carter couldn’t even shout before Aizawa’s head was smashed into the concrete, the monster pulling back his arms with a sickening _crack_.

He blinked and felt tears sting at his eyes as Amelia made a choked sound next to him, blood pooling around Aizawa’s head. 

“Meet the anti-symbol of peace. The bio-engineered Nomu.”


	3. That’s Not a Man, That’s a Nomu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short and everything but sweet.

The monster - Nomu - pulled Aizawa’s arm back further and Carter fought the urge to look away. He had to do something, but what?

“Cancelling out quirks. Pretty cool, but nothing special,” the hand villain said. “Up against crazy strength, you might as well be quirkless.”

The Nomu reached for Aizawa’s other arm and broke it as well. Aizawa screamed in pain and Carter flinched back. Oh god, he can’t watch this.

His teacher tried to lift his head, but the Nomu grabbed him and slammed his head down. 

“We should do something. We _need_ to do something,” Carter whispered.

“We can’t,” Amelia said quietly. “We can’t fight that- that, that _thing_!”

“So we’re just gonna let them kill sensei?!” Carter hissed back. 

The mist villain warped next to the hand villain. “Tomura Shigaraki.”

“Kurogiri,” the hand villain - Shigaraki? - greeted. “Is Thirteen dead?”

“They’re incapacitated,” Kurogiri confirmed, “but there were some students I couldn’t warp away and two of them escaped.”

Two students escaped? He tried to remember who didn’t get sucked into the mist. Maybe Lara somehow got away. Hopefully, Destiny was safe.

“Oh?” Shigaraki asked. He started to shake. Not with fear, but with rage. His hands reached up to his neck and he started to scratch violently. “Hnnnnngh, Kurogiri, you... I’d turn you to dust if you weren’t our ticket out of here.”

Shigaraki lowered his hands. “We won’t stand a chance against dozens of pros. It’s game over, man. It’s game over, for now.”

The villain turned around, towards Kurogiri, shoulders slumping. “We’re leaving.”

“Leaving? Just like that?” Amelia murmured. “That can’t be right.”

The villain paused. 

“But before that, let’s leave a few dead kids.”

Shigaraki turned around to look at them. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck-

“To wound the pride of the symbol of peace!” Shigaraki exclaimed, shooting towards Amelia with an extended hand. Visions of Aizawa’s disintegrated elbow flashed before Carter’s eyes as Shigaraki reached to Amelia’s head. 

All five fingers landed on Amelia’s face. Holy shit, he’s gonna watch his classmate die-

Nothing happened. Carter froze, his breath catching in his throat.

Shigaraki chuckled, “you really are cool, Eraserhead.”

Carter looked back at his teacher and saw him with his head up, his quirk activated. The Nomu slammed Aizawa’s head back into the ground.

Before Shigaraki’s quirk could activate again, Carter felt his quirk burn into his hand. His body still hurt from teleporting two people earlier, but god be damned if he lets a villain kill his classmate in front of him. 

“Get off of her!” He screamed, throwing his glitches at him. 

“Nomu,” Shigaraki summoned. 

His glitches slammed into a black wall, sending a wave of air out but doing virtually nothing as he felt his fingers become unstable. He panted, falling back slightly.

His glitches did...nothing?

That can’t be right.

His arm hurt, his throat was dry, his eyes burned. In front of him stood the Nomu, practically untouched. It was as if Carter did nothing. 

“Quite a move you just pulled off. Powerful, indeed,” Shigaraki said. The Nomu reached out, fast as lightning, and gripped Carter’s arm. He felt his arm _snap_ and heard Amelia gasp. Static filled his ears as his arm glitched and gave way under the Nomu’s hand, blood dripping steadily. 

Before the Nomu could do anything else, the door on the other side of the USJ opened with a bang.

“ **Fear not** ,” a voice boomed. “ **I am here**.”


	4. All Might VS. Nomu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The number one hero shows up but Carter thinks that something isn’t right.

“I had a bad feeling, so I cut my talk with the principal short and came right away,” All Might said, his voice echoing around the USJ. “Then I ran into Destiny and Cyrus on the way. They told me the gist of what’s going on here. It made my blood boil. You kids must’ve so scared and my colleagues did their best. However, that’s exactly why I have to stand now and declare; fear not, I am here!”

All Might wasn’t smiling. Carter felt his blood go cold. He tried to squirm out of the Nomu’s grip but it only tightened, causing him to go still.

“I’ve been waiting, hero,” Shigaraki snarled venomously. “You worthless trash.”

“That’s-! I’ve never seen him before! What a presence,” a random villain said. 

“No backing down, you idiot. We’re here to kill him!” Another replied. 

All Might took off and ran down the stairs, taking down all the villains left in a matter of seconds. He picked up Aizawa, a look of guilt on his face. “I’m sorry, Aizawa,” he said quietly.

He turned around and saw the Nomu holding Carter up by the arm and Amelia just out of Shigaraki’s reach. In an instant, Carter found himself across the clearing in a burst of wind, All Might in front of them, his arm still glitching out and slick with blood. 

“Everyone to the entrance,” All Might ordered. He looked exhausted. “Take Aizawa. He’s unconscious, so hurry!”

Carter nodded and looked to Amelia who was already picking up Aizawa with the help of Andy. He looked back at Shigaraki who was wobbling over to a dismembered hand that All Might had knocked off his face. He leaned down and out it back in his face, “father...”

“Throwing punches to save people, ha ha ha. That’s our state-sponsored violence. You’re fast. Too fast to keep up with, but not as fast as expected. Could it really be true?”

Shigaraki looked up and Carter finally saw his eyes. They were red. 

“That you’re getting weaker?”

All Might walked forward, determined.

“All Might!” Carter found himself saying. “The brain villain - the Nomu - it’s powerful! Be careful! It’s genetically engineered to be able to kill you!”

“Carter,” All Might said, looking back at him with a smile. “Fear not!”

All Might shot forward, “ **Carolina** -”

“Nomu,” Shigaraki gestured. 

“ **SMASH**!!”

The Nomu stood in front of All Might and didn’t even flinch before lunging at the hero. All Might slid underneath the Nomu before trying to hit it in the stomach. 

“No effect, because he’s got shock absorption,” Shigaraki said, watching the fight. Wasn’t he even concerned about winning, or did he put his full trust into this Nomu? “If you really want to damage Nomu, you’d be better off ripping him apart, piece by piece. Not that he’ll give you the chance.”

Carter twisted his mouth and tried his best to filter out the battle as both him and Amelia carried Aizawa to the entrance, his arm still bloody and glitching out. A loud boom echoed through the building and Carter found himself stopping and turning around to look. He regretted it immediately.

Kurogiri’s portal had appeared under the Nomu, allowing it to twist and dig its claws into All Might’s side. All Might as stuck. Blood was slowly spreading across his shirt and the symbol of peace trembled. He couldn’t let go.

“He’s stuck,” Carter said, his tone flat with shock. “All Might’s stuck.”

He turned to Amelia, still holding Aizawa in her arms. “I’ll be right back,” he told her before glitching away.

“Don’t-!” Whatever she wanted to say was cut off as he fell in front of All Might, his body on fire. Was this what the city felt like in the fire zone? Oh, he’ll have to explain this one to Recovery Girl later. 

Before Carter could even stand, a glob of _something_ flew past him and landed on the Nomu holding All Might. The Nomu flinched as more goo was thrown at him, some hardening to cement almost immediately. 

Bre’s angry, he realized as he finally stood up, Bre running and standing next to him, ready to fight. 

Another figure flew past him. Kali! She threw herself at Kurogiri and pinned him down by the big metal sheet around his neck.

“One wrong move and I melt your neck,” Kali threatened, pulling at the hem of her gloves in a warning. Kurogiri didn’t move.

The Nomu tried to break free but the hardened slime didn’t budge. All Might pried himself out of the monster’s claws. The Nomu fell through the portal as Kurogiri’s eyes narrowed.

“You’ve pinned down our way out,” Shigaraki said slowly. “Well, this is a problem.”

“You slipped up,” Kali told Kurogiri. “Near the entrance, we noticed that you have a body that’s not mist. You hide that body with your mist. It’s your weakness, right?”

Shigaraki watched Kali with interest before turning to the rest of them, All Might clutching his side. “Not only have you beaten our level, but you’re all at full health.”

Well, not All Might if that wound has anything to say, but Carter chose not to point that out. 

“Today’s kids really are something. Our league of villains should be ashamed!” Shigaraki looked to Nomu. “Take out the brat on Kurogiri. We need our escape route back.”

The Nomu slowly got up, it’s hardened limbs dragging along it. Then, those limbs snapped off.

“What the fuck?” Bre asked as she watched the cement-covered limbs crumble off the monster. Its arm slowly grew back, the discarded arm still on the ground.

“Get back everyone!” All Might shouted. “What the- I thought his quirk was shock absorption!”

All Might was calling the monster a ‘he’. Carter still had his doubts that the thing was even alive.

“I don’t remember saying that's all he can do,” Shigaraki said. “This is hyper-regeneration. Nomu is a super-powered living sandbag designed to withstand everything you’ve got.”

So, it _is_ alive. And apparently male. 

The Nomu rushed at Kali, still holding Kurogiri down. All Might leaped after it and in a blast of wind, Kali was standing next to him and Bre, the Nomu punching All Might instead. 

All Might skidded to a halt, panting with his arms out. Blood dripped from his mouth. All Might isn’t gonna win this fight, Carter thought to himself, grimacing. 

“Anything to save a comrade, right?” Shigaraki said. “Just like earlier when, uh....that one-“ Shigaraki pointed at Carter- “the plain one.”

Wow, okay. Fuck you, too.

“He came at me with everything he had. But violence in the name of saving others is admirable? Isn’t it, hero?”

Shigaraki spread his arms, “you know what, All Might? That pisses me off! Heroes and villains both thrive on violence, but we’re still categorized. ‘You’re good’ ‘you’re evil’. That’s how it is!

“Symbol of peace? Hah! In the end, you’re just a tool for violence, made to keep us down! And violence only brings more violence. I’ll show the world that by killing you!”

“What a load of hooey,” All Might scoffed. Seriously dude, just say bullshit, Carter found himself thinking. “Idealistic criminals have a different sort of fire in their eyes.”

“But you’re just enjoying yourself, you big liar.”

“You got me,” Shigaraki sneered. “Saw right through.”

“It’s three on four,” Kali said. “Plus, we know the mist villain’s weak point. Not a fair fight in your favour.”

“You act tough, but you brought a bunch of nobodies to fight us,” Carter pointed out. “So, how tough are you actually?”

“No!” All Might said, blocking them with his hand. “Get out of here!”

“You would’ve been screwed over without my help!” Bre argued. “Plus, you’re bleeding!”

“Right you are, Breanne! So thanks for that! But fear not! Sit back and watch a pro get serious!” 

Bullshit! This guy’s as bad as an over-confident middle schooler! He glanced over at Kali who was watching All Might run at Nomu with a frown, her eyes hardened. Even she agreed with him. Carter bit his tongue to keep from yelling at the number one hero. 

“Nomu, Kurogiri. Take him. I’ll handle the kids. Let’s clear the game and go home!”

Shigaraki rushed at them and they shifted into a fighting stance. They could take this man-child. Maybe? Carter felt his stomach toss like a washing machine. Hopefully...

All Might ran at the Nomu and hit him with his fist. Shigaraki leaped back with a scowl, “he’s got shock absorption. You already saw it yourself.”

“That’s right!” All Might shouted as he hit the Nomu again. His arms flew so fast they were blurs. “It’s absorption, not negation! So he must have a limit, no?” 

Carter covered his eyes on instinct as dust flew at them from the sheer speed All Might as hitting the villain. 

“Built to counter me, you say?! Made to withstand everything I’ve got? Then I’ll just go beyond that!”

He’s spitting up blood, Carter noticed as he lowered his arm, his visor protecting his eyes even when cracked. 

“A hero’s always ready to smash through trouble! Tell me, villain. Do you know the meaning of...”

All Might wind his arm back.

“Plus-“

All Might hit the Nomu with all his strength. The Nomu went flying and soared out of the dome, glass shattering and giving away on impact. 

“ULTRA!”


	5. All Might’s a Bad Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carter can tell All Might is bluffing. Can he do anything to help the symbol of peace?

“Wow,” Bre breathed as the dust cleared and revealed All Might, still standing. 

“So that’s what makes a hero number one,” Kali said. “Impressive.”

“He just punched the villain out of the dome and all you have to say is ‘impressive’?” Carter asked incredulously, feeling out of breath just watching All Might. 

“Yep, I’m slowing down,” All Might confirmed, panting as smoke billowed off of him. Off of him? That’s not right. “In my heyday, five of those punches would’ve been enough.”

All Might stood up fully, “but that was over three hundred hits just now.”

“Well villain, how about we hurry up and finish this?” All Might asked, taking a step forward.

“You cheated!” Shigaraki accused, eyes narrowing. “You’ve weakened? Not that I can see... we’re completely outmatched. How dare you do that to my Nomu.”

Shigaraki reached up and scratched furiously at his neck. “He’s not weak at all! They- they lied to me?!”

“Well? Coming to get me?!” All Might taunted. “What happened to clearing the game? If you can take me, then bring it on!”

“I think we should step back,” Bre whispered to him, grabbing his shoulder. “We can’t fight these villains.”

“No- no,” Carter protested. Something didn’t sit right with him. “I think- I think All Might’s bluffing. He’s smoking. He can’t fight these villains.”

Bre stopped short and looked at him with surprise.

“Carter’s right,” Kali pointed out, her voice hushed. “Look at him, he’s clearly faking it.”

“Well? What’s keeping you?!” All Might bellowed.

“If only we had Nomu! If only! He was taking those hits so well!” Shigaraki exclaimed, still scratching his neck.

“Tomura Shigaraki, calm yourself,” Kurogiri said. “It’s apparent that Nomu did manage to deal some damage real damage.” Kurogiri turned to them. “The kids are holding back for some reason and reinforcements from the school are bound to arrive in a few moments. But if the two of us double-team him, we still have a chance.”

“Yes. Yes, yes,” Shigaraki said, lowering his hands. “Right, right, right. We can do this. The final boss is standing right there.”

Carter stood his ground. All Might’s not gonna be able to fight them. Looking back at Kali and Bre, they seem to understand this too.

“We can’t do anything,” Kali whispered, grabbing one of his sleeves with a glove-covered hand. “All Might- he’s the number one hero.”

“He’s in danger!” Carter hissed back, pulling his arm away. “I can’t just stand here!”

“You’ll get yourself killed!” Bre retorted, waving her hands frantically. 

“So will All Might,” Carter replied. 

Kurogiri and Shigaraki ran at All Might, Kurogiri in his mist form. “This is for Nomu!” Shigaraki screamed as a portal formed in front of All Might.

Carter wasn’t about to watch the number one hero die. He glitched forwards, ignoring the fire in his veins, and gathered pixels in his hand. Who knows who this’ll hurt more, him or the villains.

Before he could aim for Kurogiri’s body, a hand shot out of the portal. He had a split-second of regret before a gun rang out in the building and the hand recoiled sharply, leaving Carter’s glitches to miss their target. 

“Sorry everyone,” a voice said, sounding vaguely familiar. Principal Nezu! “We’re a little late. We brought everyone we could.”

Carter fell onto the ground with a thud, his breath stolen from his lungs. In his pain-induced haze, he could hear Shigaraki say something before bullets sounded. The mist swirled around the pair as the guns continued firing.

He heard Thirteen activate their quirk, trying to stop Kurogiri from escaping. Their quirk must be perfect against Kurogiri. Carter idly wondered how Thirteen didn’t stop Kurogiri before when he was in the fire zone. 

Shigaraki said something, but it sounded warbled to Carter. He tried to push himself up but his legs gave out from underneath him. What..? Turning around, he saw his legs glitching out. Oh, that makes sense. Both of his arms are still freaking out, as well. It felt more numb than anything, now. 

Carter looked up at the cloud of smoke surrounding All Might. It slowly cleared and instead of the number one hero, a skeleton of a man stood there. 

What the fuck.

Somewhere in the back of his said that made sense, he can’t look like the other form all the time. It would be impossible to get anything done, never mind fit through doors or fit into elevators. But the larger, more loud part of his mind is freaking out because there’s no way _that_ can be All Might. Number one hero, the symbol of peace? No way. Did Kurogiri swap two different people?

“Oh,” Carter said out loud instead of his literal mountain of thoughts. His voice felt dry. Had he been screaming? Probably. Everything felt strangely muffled, including the pain. He felt kinda tired. “That’s new.”

“Young Carter!” All Might said, looking surprised at his fallen form. Huh, even his voice sounds kinda different. He wonders how that works. 

Maybe he’ll find out later, he’s kinda tired. He can hear All Might calling his name before everything goes black.


	6. Hit By a Train? Feels Like It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the USJ.

Carter wakes up and immediately wishes he hadn’t.

“Ughhhhh,” he groaned intelligently.

“That sounds about right,” a voice replies. “You look like you got hit by a truck.”

“I feel like I got hit by a truck,” Carter said back, finally realizing that the voice belongs to Kali. Well, it was nice of her to visit him. 

“That was a stupid thing to do,” somebody else said. Oh, Bre’s here, too. That’s neat. “I’m gonna strangle you as soon as you’re out of here.

He cracked his eyes open and saw Kali and Bre sitting next to him in what appeared to be plastic chairs. He remembered those chairs, they were always so uncomfortable. Bre looked like she had spent an entire day crying. Kali looked like felt one emotion for once in her entire life and hated every second of it. Which, mood. 

“Am I in a hospital?” He croaked. Wow, his mouth was dry. 

“‘Am I in a hospital?’ Yes, you’re in a fucking hospital!” Kali mocked, swatting his arm lightly. “Where did you think you were?”

“The morgue?” Carter suggested innocently. 

Bre snickered behind a hand as Kali sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. “I should’ve stayed home,” she groaned.

“She should’ve left you on that street corner where you were standin’,” Bre smirked.

“But she didn’t!” Carter grinned back. Kali hit her head on the hospital bed frame. Carter and Bre laughed.

“How long was I out?” Carter asked, unconsciously rubbing his bandaged arm.

“About a day or so,” Bre answered. “School was closed today and tomorrow so you don’t have to worry about homework.”

“All Might?”

Kali frowned, “he’s fine. Had to go see Recovery Girl, but he came out unscathed. Why?”

Carter bit the inside of his cheek. Should he tell them? In seems unfair to All Might, the other form seemed to be some big secret. He doesn’t wanna get in trouble with All Might for spilling something that he shouldn’t even know.

“No reason,” Carter lied easily. “Just wondering. I guess he wasn’t bluffing about his strength.”

Kali watched him with narrowed eyes before shrugging. Bre poked his blanketed leg.

“They said that you almost got your arms amputated,” Bre informed him.

Carter choked on air, “I’m sorry, _what_?”

“She’s lying,” Kali rolled her eyes, smacking Bre’s hand. “You were never in danger of having your limbs amputated. She’s just trying to rile you up.”

Carter glared at Bre as she pouted. He turned back to Kali.

“What about Aizawa? Is he okay?”

“Yeah, Amelia managed to get him to the medics. She freaked out when she saw you passed out in a puddle of your own blood,” Kali said. “He’s in this hospital right now. Looks like a mummy. Thirteen’s okay, too.”

“Thirteen got hurt?” Carter doesn’t remember that. They were fine when Kurogiri separated all of them. They didn’t join in the fight with Kurogiri and Shigaraki until the last moment when the villains were trying to escape. Carter can’t really remember the end of the fight, too busy fighting to stay awake thanks to blood loss, but he didn’t see Thirteen get hurt.

“After we were separated, a group of us got away,” Kali explained. “Thirteen tried fighting Kurogiri but got badly injured in the process. Kurogiri got away before any of us could fight back after Thirteen fell.”

“And that was around the time Kurogiri appeared around the fountain,” Carter finished, nodding along. “Well, it’s good that they’re okay. Did anyone else get hurt?”

“Just some scratches,” Bre said. “I’m pretty sure Peter broke his arm, though.” 

“That’s good,” Carter sighed, sinking further into the bed. “Do they know how they broke into the USJ?”

“Not yet,” answered somebody in the doorway. The trio looked up and saw a regular looking man in a suit standing next to All Might, who was in casual clothes.

“Detective Tsukauchi,” the man introduced. “We need to talk to Carter. Alone.”

Bre nodded and got up while Kali slapped him on the shoulder. “Try not to get murdered,” she said, shooting him a finger gun. They left the room and Detective Tsukauchi closed the door.

Carter wondered for a second that maybe he just imagined the last bits of the battle and hallucinated All Might turning into a skeleton when All Might deflated in front of him.

He blinked and waited for a second. And another second.

“Is this normal?” He asked Detective Tsukauchi. “Like- is this just a thing?”

Detective Tsukauchi smiled bitterly and took a seat next to him along with All Might.

“My real name is Toshinori Yagi,” All Might said, “and this is what I look like when I’m not doing hero work.”

Okay, cool. Cool cool cool. He’s okay. He’s not gonna freak out. 

“You were smoking,” Carter blurted. Not cool. Abandon ship. “Do you have, uh, a time limit? Or- or something?”

“My time limit used to be three hours,” All Might told him.

“Use to be?” Carter frowned.

“After I pushed myself too hard during the USJ, my time limit is gone to an hour,” All Might informed. Carter’s breath caught in his lungs. An hour? The number one hero can only fight for an hour? That’s not good.

“So the harder you push yourself, the lower the time limit goes?” Carter said slowly like he might miss something. To be honest, he wasn’t sure this wasn’t some fever dream. Maybe he was dead and this was Hell.

“Theoretically,” Detective Tsukauchi replied. 

Carter nodded dumbly, struggling to form a response. The rumors were true. The symbol of peace is getting weaker.

“Do you know why?” Carter asked. 

All Might (should he call him Toshinori? No, that’s too casual) and Tsukauchi looked at each other before turning back to him. All Might lifted his shirt to reveal a huge blistering red wound. Something told him that that wasn’t from the fight. 

“A couple of years ago I sustained an injury against a powerful enemy. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed. That fight weakened me. I haven’t been the same since,” All Might said, finally lowering his shirt.

“Who was it?”

“What?”

“Who was it?” Carter repeated. “The villain? Are they still alive?”

“No,” All Might responded. “No, they’re dead.”

“Oh. Right.”

Carter’s head was spinning. What villain could possibly do this to All Might? Well, the whole world was lucky they were dead. Otherwise, they’d be in great danger. 

“You cannot tell anybody about this,” Tsukauchi informed him seriously. “This is a secret for a reason. The people cannot lose their source of hope.”

“Who knows about th-this?” Carter gestured vaguely at All Might.

“The U.A. staff and somebody...else,” All Might replied, equally as vague. Who was that somebody else? Carter had so many questions. Who was the villain? When did this injury occur? Was the fight public? How long has he been hiding this?

“I’ll keep a secret,” Carter promised. “It’s not like anybody’ll believe me anyways.”

Tsukauchi nodded, “thank you for your time.” He got up and left. All Might moved to follow him but hesitated.

“Young Carter,” All Might said softly, “you were very brave. Without you, I might not have made it out of that fight.”

Carter swallowed and nodded. He felt dizzy as he watched the symbol of peace inflate back to his hero form and leave. 

So, that just happened. Carter ran a hand down his face. Now, all he had to do was keep a secret that could possibly destroy society’s hope to himself. Yeah, this should be easy. Totally easy. 

“Why do I get myself in the weirdest fucking situations,” Carter asked himself.


End file.
